Live Free or Study Hard
by Coffee Craft
Summary: Gary Oak has transferred to the Kalos region to study abroad, and Ash pays him a visit...with interesting results. -Palletshipping


A/N: I'm hitting walls with my Ego/Phaedra one-shot (which I have been working on for...over two weeks now? I lost count), so I decided to start working on my other ideas. A lot of my one-shots are experiments with style. I'm still looking for one I'm going to "stick" to. This is my first Pallet fic and my first slash fic. I accept criticism of all sorts (no bashing, no flames). I guess you can say that Palletshipping is my latest obsession to date- I love the idea of these two.

EDIT: Thanks to an anonymous reviewer I fixed the mistake of mixing "desert" up with "dessert" … yes, do let me know if I messed something up.

Disclaimer: No ... I don't ... I can't ...

* * *

Trainers were marching like miserable soldier lillipups on their way to the next city. They had nothing to burden them, but their backs felt heavy - they looked like they would collapse at a given moment - and the heat was _unbearable _in this time of the year in the Kalos region. The route in between the last city and to the one they were headed toward was a desert route. The alpha of the pack had been too excited to take notice of the heat that had overwhelmed his weary companions. He kept trotting gleefully along the path until he caught sight of the sign to Lumiose City.

Ash grinned. When he had heard that Gary was residing at Kalos to study abroad, and when he heard that he was studying under Professor Sycamore, he couldn't be happier. And to think that he learned this piece of information at such a convenient time!

"Hey, Clemont, Bonnie, Serena! We're finally back to Lumiose! Last one there's a rotten Exeggute - huh?"

The blissfully ignorant trainer turned his head over his shoulder to find that his friends had fell onto the sandy ground, unable to move further. Ash's grin upturned. He assumed that they hadn't held as much excitement about meeting with his friend.

"Ash, can w-we take a breather?" Serena managed to croak out. She sounded weak, and while Ash would usually stop to consider his friends' warfare before deciding to make a compromise, he just couldn't bring himself to care that much right then.

He began to bounce up and down, like the hyperactive lillipup his three friends had discovered he tended to be. They couldn't believe he was practically _immune _to the fact that it was probably one hundred degrees Fahrenheit or higher in this desert route! Hadn't he traveled through desert like areas before? How was he able to travel through them?

"Sorry guys! I just can't stand to leave someone I've known for so long waiting for me, and if you knew anything about Gary, you'd know that he's really impatient and - just come on, guys! We're almost there! Look! There's the sign! Don't you see it? Come on!" They were almost _there_, for Pete's sake! "We got to move! Why stop? What's the point? We're almost _there_."

Serena weakly lifted her head up to face the raven haired trainer with a dissatisfied glare. He made a remarkably reasonable point. What was so special about this Gary Oak anyway? She was exhausted. Clemont was exhausted. Poor Bonnie was exhausted (and she didn't want to think about how miserable Dedenne might be feeling). And he was looking past all that! All for this Gary Oak person. Boy, she'd _love _to know why Ash held this person so near and dear to him.

"Ash, I thought you were crazy, but now I'm convinced you're insane and need help," Bonnie spoke up, catching both Ash's and Serena's attention. "I agree with Serena. We need to stop for a minute. At least give us a minute to _breathe _and then we'll keep moving. You said a couple of more minutes, right? You can wait a couple of more minutes."

Ash's whining was even more obnoxious than earlier. "No, I can't! Can you guys please just move a little further?"

"Pika pika," Pikachu sighed. He was all too familiar with Ash's impulsiveness.

"Not to make you guys sound like the idiots here, but I think I'm going to agree with Ash's argument," Clemont had wobbly stood back up to his feet as he gave his two cents. "We're almost there, and it really isn't going to be that much of a pain to walk a few more steps. Because once we're at the city, we can all recharge at the professor's _air-conditioned _lab."

Serena and Bonnie met each other's eyes for a brief moment, then looked back at Clemont.

"I'm down," Serena said, stumbling back to her feet and brushing off her skirt.

"Me too! Maybe this Gary can give my big brother pointers on how to be an attractive gentleman, and then someone will finally want to marry him!" Bonnie replied, hopping right up to her feet, as if she never was that hot to begin with. Clemont shook off that notion. Bonnie's actions worried him sometimes.

Ash laughed at his friends' antics. "Maybe you guys shouldn't underestimate your resilience."

Clemont readjusted his glasses as he replied. "You're right, Ash. Come on, we can't keep your friend waiting, if he's as impatient as you say."

"Last one there's a rotten Exeggute!" Bonnie yelled, parroting Ash's earlier remark. Ash grinned and went after her. Clemont and Serena stayed behind for a moment, letting the more excitable ones get a head start, before running after them themselves.

* * *

Ash made it in the nick of time and burst through the doors of Professor Sycamore's lab. He found Gary sitting on a desk, absorbed in paperwork, and startled him upon entering the lab. The researcher turned around in his seat to face the newcomer.

"Late as usual, _Ashy-boy_."

Ash's shoulders sulked, but Pikachu managed to stay balanced on his left shoulder.

"Come on, Gary, I came as fast as I could as soon as I heard you were here! Give me more credit than that! You're lucky that this is where I'm going to get my next badge - !"

"Ash!" Serena called out from behind him. She had just entered the lab with Clemont and Bonnie behind her. They'd all completely forgotten about the sweltering heat outside when they were welcomed by a blast of cool air. "I can't believe you beat all of us here!"

"Sorry," he said, bashfully rubbing the back of his head.

"He's missed you a lot. He kept talking about you on our way here. You must be a good friend of his," Clemont commented, approaching the young professor. He seemed immediately refreshed from entering the cool lab, as did Serena and Bonnie when they walked in. It was almost as if they never had been baking in the ridiculous heat in the first place (it would change as soon as they leave the building).

"You could say that..." Gary trailed off, glancing at Ash and his pikachu, before looking back at Clemont. "You must be Clemont. You run the gym here, don't you?"

"That's right, I specialize in electricity, and electric types," Clemont replied. "I also like to conduct experiments in my spare time, even though they ah, never work."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "No one's going to marry my brother if he keeps up that attitude, but it doesn't keep me from looking." She then gave Gary a once over. "But I guess being a science geek isn't all bad. Just look at you."

Gary bit back his tongue. Ash noticed that he was offended by her remark, and held back a laugh. It wasn't like Bonnie knew any better. A little girl could take a swing at Gary's ego; he held by his principles and would not hurt a little girl's feelings over what was possibly a harmless comment.

"You must be Bonnie." Gary then looked up to the older blonde of the group. "And _you're _Serena."

Serena flushed at the fact that Professor Oak's grandson recognized her, but had not noticed Ash flaring up at the way Gary addressed Serena, though. For some reason, the idea of Gary giving _that _much attention to her made him uncomfortable. He had concluded that Gary did that on purpose, to test his boundaries, or something. As if he already knew...

_Of course he knows_, Ash thought to himself. _How could he not know by now? He's still looking at me, while he's sweet talking the others! He's really testing me! That jerk!_

Pikachu hopped off Ash's shoulders and over to Gary's feet.

"Pikachu pika," the rodent gestured to the raven haired trainer who felt neglected by Gary. He winked at Pikachu knowingly, and Pikachu, confused, just went with it.

"So what is your latest project on, Gary?" Clemont decided to end the awkward silence. Ash assumed that Clemont felt that it made them all as equally uncomfortable as he felt, given that they were trying to get to know an old companion of his, and they weren't giving the best of their efforts to do so. They should at least try harder ...

"Right now I'm studying up on Fairy types, there have been some migrating over to the Sinnoh region," he explained. "We're trying to build nature preserves for _all _types of Pokemon, the same way Gramps does back in Kanto with all the pokemon he keeps in the lab."

"Hey, yeah, I remember that," Ash commented. "You did something like that the first time I ran into you in Sinnoh! With the Shieldon! How did that go anyway?"

"It's pretty successful, Rowan and his newest recruits are running it, and since I'm graduating soon, I think it's better that way. I coach them on how to care for the preserve and for the Pokemon, though."

"That must be really cool," Serena said. "You're really working hard, huh? A chip off the old block!"

"You can't really compare me and Gramps, we're on two completely different levels of Pokemon research. Nobody can be as good as Gramps at what he does, though, if you want my opinion."

"I think you come pretty close."

Professor Sycamore walked in with Garchomp tailing behind, and the group turned to greet him.

"It's exciting to think though, isn't it?" he went on. "You're about to run your own lab here in this very region."

"Here, really?" Ash asked Gary.

He nodded.

"Serena, you look well. How is Fennekin doing? I take it you both have become very close," Professor Syacmore shifted gears and turned his attention to Serena, who seemed to be like the most interesting thing among the group right then.

Clemont had caught these implications a long time ago (he had shared them with Ash), and though Clemont tried not to read into them too much, he couldn't help but feel that there was an underlying issue between them. Clemont knew better than to intrude on business that wasn't his, but he still felt threatened around Sycamore.

Serena laughed halfheartedly, peeling away a stray strand of hair that had slapped onto her cheek. "Ah, yeah, we are."

"Brilliant," Sycamore flashed her a winning smile.

"So, Fairy types," Sycamore brought up, shifting gears again. Ash, Gary, and the rest turned their attention back to him. "How much information have you gathered on them, Gary?"

"You were a great help, Professor," Gary said. "I think I have enough to get by. I think it's time for some time off."

"You deserve it! Your friend is here, so relax as much as you desire," Sycamore turned to Clemont, Serena, and Bonnie. "Good to see you all looking so well. Clemont, you look like you have much more life in you than you had back when you were running the gym. Bonnie, you're oddly quiet today."

"I just wanna stay here and play with Garchomp~" she sang as she walked up to the said pokemon. "Can I?"

"Of course," he couldn't help but laugh. "She might enjoy that very much."

"Come on, Garchomp! After that, we can go play!" she cried happily as she disappeared to another room, Garchomp following close behind her.

"I have some errands to run, you all make yourself comfortable." Sycamore turned to Serena, grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles. "Farewell, Miss." _  
_

"D-do you need any help?" she stammered, withdrawing her hand. An evident blush bloomed on her cheeks, like cherry blossoms bloom in the spring. Ash eyed Clemont warily; he didn't look so good.

"Ah, but of course, I can always use an extra hand. Now that Garchomp ran off with Bonnie..." Sycamore trailed off. Ash cocked his head to the side: was he making advances to Serena, or something? How was Clemont holding up?

"Shall we, then?" she proposed after she collected herself to the best of her ability - her blush was still faintly visible on her cheeks - and started toward the door.

"Wait, Serena!" Clemont finally spluttered. "Can I go, too?"

Sycamore's expression immediately darkened.

"S-sure! Of course you can!" Serena seemed eager. That put Clemont at ease, albeit slightly. "Is that okay with you, Professor?"

"Sure, you may join us, Clemont," he responded flatly, brisk walking to the door. "Come now, we don't have time to waste."

Clemont was the last to leave, closing the door behind him, leaving Gary, Ash, and Pikachu confounded by what had unfolded before them.

"Pikachu pikapi," Pikachu said as he sauntered off in search for Bonnie. The space was emptied out, with just Ash and Gary.

And if Ash didn't know better, he would have thought that Gary was actually pleased with the turn of events.

And he _was_.

"So Ash," he started abruptly. "Missed me?"

_Wh-what?_

"Well you heard what Clemont said. So you don't have to hear it from me," he remarked, pleased by his wit. He normally felt like a blubbering idiot around Gary.

_You don't need to take any of his crap. You're better than that._

"Actually, it'd be more...what's the word..._fulfilling _to hear you say it," he replied, swaggering up to him until they barely had much distance between them. Ash wanted to shrivel up as he felt Gary's breath on the back of his neck. "Or are you too embarrassed to admit it? Since you can't even admit it to yourself..."

"I can admit it to myself!" Ash defended himself haughtily. He surprised himself with how defensive he sounded. Gary typically had that effect on him - he pushed him to assert himself more. "I already have! What makes you think I didn't?"

"So you _have _missed me." Gary gave Ash a shit-eating smirk and it really made him want to wipe it off his face.

Then something nagged at the back of Ash's mind: maybe he could...

"Yeah so what if I did?" Ash challenged, doing exactly what he told himself to do: stand his ground.

"Oh, I don't know, it's just cute to see you completely at my feet," - his lips grazed the nape of his neck - "You know you want me."

"You're a jerk," he muttered. "Of course you know that."

Ash let out an _umphf _when he felt Gary tug at his belt.

"What was that, Ash? I didn't catch that..."

"I - _uff!_"

"Well?" he demanded. He had him pinned to the wall, his hand still hooked around his belt.

"But what about - "

"We'll worry about the kid later. We have time now."

"But Pikachu will - "

"Not care," Gary sighed. "Why do you think he left?"

"Because he wanted to be with Bonnie and Garchomp?"

The brunet rolled his eyes. "No, numb skull, he was buying us time. Don't you ever catch on to this kind of stuff? What do you think that was back there earlier with Clemont, Serena, and Sycamore?"

Ash decided to feign innocence. He knew what was REALLY going on, of course, but he didn't want to talk about it.

"I thought Sycamore was happy enough to let Clemont go with him and Serena. He seemed fine with it!"

"He was FAR from fine with it - he wanted to be with Serena _alone_, and Clemont went and ruined it for him. I guess Serena figured out that Sycamore's making advances to her, and she felt uncomfortable. She was the one who wanted Clemont to come, not Sycamore."

"O-oh, so you mean...wait, isn't that weird?"

"They don't seem to think so." His grip on Ash tightened. "You haven't been paying _that _much attention. Typical."

"Whatever," Ash retorted.

"Ooh, touchy, are we?"

"Sh-shut up."

"Not before I shut you up first," he hissed, his lips grazing teasingly over Ash's. Ash had been anticipating this moment - though he had hoped that he would be the one to initiate it - but Gary, as always, was a few steps ahead of him.

And that drove him crazy.

"Wh-what's," Ash grumbled. "What's keepin' ya?"

Gary stared at him for a long moment, before releasing his grip and pulling away from him. Ash had never felt more flustered. What the hell was he thinking, leaving him like that? After all that?

"Heh, wow, look at that," Gary said, smirking down at him. "Do I make you feel _that _helpless?"

Ash wouldn't have it. He leaned in and caught Gary's lips, throwing Gary off guard (for once).

Gary stumbled backward before he recomposed himself, pressing his hands against Ash's back, regaining his dominance over the younger trainer. There was no other way he was going to have it.

"What's the matter, Ash?" he spoke up as he momentarily broke them apart. "Out of breath already? I expected more from you."

"You were the one who broke the kiss first, don't play games with me!"

"It's all about games with us, though, don't you remember?" he teased, pulling Ash closer into him. "It's always been about winning or losing for us, and right now you're losing...or just downright forfeiting yourself to me. How does it feel to know that I know every move you're going to make?"

"Jerk!"

"Loser," he snapped back. He moved in to kiss him again, but Ash dodged him this time, grabbing Gary by his shoulders and spinning him around, so that now he was the one against the wall.

"Now who's the loser?" he sneered.

"Now you have me," he switched positions with Ash with minimal effort. "And now you don't."

"But that's not fair!"

"Life isn't fair," he stated.

"Life isn't always about you, either," Ash muttered.

"But I still get what I want," Gary remarked. "Funny how life works."

"You're impossible."

"I know."

Ash struggled to get out of his grip. "Ugh! Get off me!"

Gary looked appalled by Ash's actions.

"You mean to tell me you don't want this? Ash, don't be such a tease."

"You're saying I'm the one teasing you?!"

"Yes."

"Then what the hell do you call what you're doing to me?!"

"Consequences."

"_Get off._"

"Make me."

Ash pressed his lips firmly against his once he got a clear shot; he was still pressed against the wall. Gary's hands were on either side of his waist, unyielding. He was not someone to lose control of a situation that easily, and he would never submit to Ash. Never.

But that didn't mean Ash still couldn't try.

Gary chuckled against his lips, charmed by Ash's failed efforts to take control of him...that wasn't going to happen. Not in this life.

Ash's hands found Gary's belt, and he gripped onto it tightly. Gary let out a low groan. This was finally going Ash's way...

"Now Ash, you know better than that."

"Quit...talking..." he grunted.

* * *

Of course, Ash would have to come to terms with the fact that it would always go Gary's way.

Of course, Ash always submitted to him in the end.

Gary watched him, he was slinking against the wall, breathing in and out heavily. Gary really had wiped him out...

"Well, well, well," he said as he fastened his belt. "What to do now..."

"No more, please!" Ash's breath was still rigid. "They might come back any minute now."

"Awww, is Ashy not up for another round?" He could fool anyone into thinking he was genuinely disappointed by this, but Ash knew him better than anyone. He was far from disappointed. He was pleased.

He stood up and mimicked Gary's earlier actions.

"I'm still surprised that Bonnie never walked in on us," Gary remarked.

"Man, then we'd have to give her the talk! I don't want to give her the talk! You give her the talk!"

"Clemont can do that."

"I can do what?"

Gary and Ash snapped their heads toward the blonde walking in with bags occupying both of his hands. Serena and Professor Sycamore walked up to Clemont. Professor Sycamore had his arms crossed over his chest. He appeared to be suspicious of Gary, particularly.

Or he was just angry that Clemont had joined him and Serena. That could be it, too.

"Hiya guys! Back already?" Bonnie walked back in with Garchomp behind her and Pikachu on her shoulder. Pikachu greeted Ash before hopping off her shoulder and into his arms.

"Hey there Pikachu," Ash said. "Had fun?"

"Pikachupi!"

"Well, looks like I better get back to work," Gary said, before glancing at Ash. "You guys staying for the night?"

"Yeah, I think we're going to stay at Clemont's," Ash replied. He then turned to the blond. "I'm not going to go easy on you tomorrow. Pikachu was my very first Pokemon, and he'll take all your electric types down."

"I'll hold you to that, Ash, but I'm going to be putting up one heck of a fight, too."

"Oh brother." Serena fought the urge to smack herself. "This is going to be hard. I don't know whether to cheer Clemont on or to cheer Ash on."

"I know I'll be more upset by the fact that Clemont lost," Bonnie chimed in.

"I'm on both of your sides," Serena decided. "That way no matter who wins or loses I'll still be happy about the outcome."

"Thanks, Serena!" Ash didn't know what else he could say.

"Well, I'm looking forward to watching this battle unfold myself," Professor Sycamore chuckled. "Clemont is a fine battler, Ash. I'd not get too overconfident if I were you."

"Ah! I know what I'm doing, don't worry about it, Professor!" Ash waved him off. "Now come on! I'm starving! What's there to eat here? Let's go check out a new cafe or something!"

"You won't have a problem with that. I _promise_," Gary mumbled. "But believe me, you'd want to try the two star restaurant over any cafe here."

"Awesome! Come on Gary, you should come, too!" Ash was pumped. Nothing made him more excited than food (except maybe Gary...). "Last one there's a rotten Exeggute!"

"Not again," Bonnie groaned, running after him.

"I guess nothing dampens his spirits," Clemont laughed, dropping the groceries and catching up to them. Serena said nothing, instead repeated his actions, and just tagging along, though she seemed as fed up with Ash as Bonnie was.

Gary was about to protest, but they were already out of the lab before he could. His shoulders sagged. Ash must have rubbed off on all of them.

"Gary..." Professor Sycamore began as soon as they were out of the building. "Is there something you'd like to tell me? Because if I find something I'd rather would not have in my lab..."

The younger researcher snapped his head toward Sycamore. "Hey, don't sweat it, everything's clean, here."

He frowned. "Have you planned for this to happen?"

"Well, no," Gary said as he began to walk to the door. "But I'm glad it happened...I'll be back!"

"How are you going to catch up to them?"

"They don't know where it is! They're probably waiting outside of the lab."

"Oh."

Gary slammed the door behind him.

Sighing, Professor Sycamore glanced at the room once more, before turning to Garchomp, who he had almost forgotten was there.

"Let's grab ourselves a snack, too, Garchomp," he proposed, gathering as many groceries as he could before strutting out. Garchomp smiled and did the same, walking out of the room by his side.

* * *

A/N: Er, yeah, abrupt ending. I guess I didn't know how to end it...I'll go back and fix mistakes later. Again, let me know if you see any. If you like Ego or PhaedraShipping, you might be in for an emotional roller-coaster ride for my next one-shot (that is, if I manage to post it after this).

Thanks for reading!


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